Unremarkable looking, middle aged Renee is the concierge in an elegant Paris apartment building. The tenants look through her as they go about ordering her to take care of everything from the trash to their dry cleaning. But Renee has a secret. She is exceedingly well read and knowledgeable in classical music and art. Something none of the residents bothered to notice.

Paloma is a precocious and extremely intelligent 12 year old who also lives in the building. She harbors a secret as well.

This book took some time to warm up to, but from then on it was smooth sailing.

Sent in a box of books to Calif-BookLover. Enjoy, my friend!

This book features two intellectually superior characters, one of them a 12 year old girl and the other the concierge of a Paris apartment building (in which the young girl resides with her snobbish family). Both characters are relatively isolated because of their interests and intellect. I found the book challenging at times because of its depth, but overall, I'm glad I stuck it out and witnessed things coming together for Paloma and Renee.